Noosa - Paradise in Australia

Theres only so much you can learn in one place -The more that I wait, The more time that I waste

I haven’t got much time to waste, its time to make my wayI’m not afraid of what I’ll face , but Im afraid to stay(…)Are you ready to Jump ?Get ready to Jump,Don’t ever look back, Oh Baby

…From Jump by Madonna.Used In “The Devil Wears Prada” movie – one of my cult films. Shows the energy of New York and the business world in general.

“It may be the Devil, or it may be the Lord, butYou gonna have to ssserve somebody”

(Female singer I forget her name)

Yep, 6 months in the tropics in Malaysia, fourteen 5-day courses with kids, and now Noosa and new types of work in more temperate climes.

Been discovering Noosa and environs – which I had only seen briefly before. Also catching up with my mother, and helping her with some technical computer stuff. She has a dial-up connection to internet, which I may upgrade to broadband in the near future.

Went to Mt Timbeewah, good views and some 1 pitch bolted climbs. You need a National Park permit to climb there… probably to sign a waiver absolving them of responsibility. When I think that France has thousands of bolted climbs, mostly put up by volunteers, and you never need a permit… Australia is over-regulated in some aspects – regulatory creep is something to watch out for, because it Kills life and initiative and employement. We were there on a Saturday – and I was surprised to see no climbers. (update - Nat. Parks apparently gave up trying to enforce permits for climbers. Also I met some climbers there recently).

Also went, or scrambled up the very steep path on Mt Cooroororah – a volcanic stump that dominates everything around it.

I run uphill in the Noosa National Park trails 5 minutes from The main Noosa drag –Hastings street. Have been a bit random lately – a tendency of mine when not fully taken up by a task or work. But I’m pulled forward by my inner drives: I’m here to serve and inspire kids and adults in the outdoors – that I confirmed in Malaysia. And I’m an athlete… I never really thought of myself as one until recently, but it’s true – I have an inner drive to run cross country, to climb rocks, to work out … A French backpacker I met on Perentian Kecil island (Malaysia) said to me after seeing me run on the beach: “you’re an athlete”.Indeed I looked at myself in a full length mirror after taking a hot shower here (the first in 6 months…) and saw that the job has really flattened my belly and toned my shoulders. Gotta be careful not to overeat now…

It’s good to be back in Aus. And the milder climate in this part of Aus. The country is truly blessed with natural beauty and vastness. Politicians and world conflicts will come and go, but this land will stay as a Great Southern Land of red earth and dry eucalypts, of mountain jungles and limitless clean beaches.